The idea was that throughout the year, I would write lil notes of blessings that I had experienced and at the end of the year…open the jar and review all my blessings.

2013 was an overwhelming year for me!

I traveled A LOT and I graduated with my undergraduate degree which is something I fought hard for. But I also had deep low points in my life and tremendous heart break….

…and in the midst of it all, I stopped writing notes for the jar and never reviewed it.

But today I decided to take a look and these are a few notes I found:

01/16/2013 After days of self pity and bad anxiety and

sleepless nights and putting myself more in debt…I paid my tuition.

MY FINAL TUITION!

Somehow I made it. Not just the payment but through college.

God has never left me!

01/18/2013 I went to see the resume doctor on campus & she was impressed with my resume. It got me thinking how God planned everything out in a way that even though I often complain about not getting jobs on campus or being broke; the job I did get is an amazing addition to my career goals. Everything that he allowed me to do is beneficial in the long run. Once again proving, that he has plans for me & they are better than any plan I could make for myself. I am blessed!

01/20/2013: Despite being undeserving, God shows His mercies.

I told a lie and I made mistakes and in an attempt to cover those up,

I just made more mistakes.

But God is like that ride or die friend that sees you struggling &helps you out.

He is like having a parent that sees their child doing wrong

but understands their heart & gives them a pass. I am blessed!

Even though we are half way through the first month of the year…it is not too late. A blessings jar is great way to count your blessings. At the very least, it gives us time to reflect on how favored we are. And when you do review the jar…whether it be monthly, at the end of the year or a decade from now…you will feel amazed!

Yes! I have a past. I’ve been in love, I’ve had fuck buddies, girlfriends and “I probably shouldn’t have done that” moments. I come with baggage. There is nothing I can do to change that. In fact, I’d be lying if I told you I regret it. But I can tell you this; I’m in love with you.I want you. And even though I have history with these females, I’m committed to building a future with you. Let’s move forward together.

He once lived in London and with that in common we shared a nice conversation that lasted about 10 minutes.

I was warm, full of smiles, extremely friendly.

No I did not flirt with him. That is a fact I am certain of. Because just a few minutes before, when he unexpectedly knocked on the front door, he interrupted my make out session with the owner of the apartment we were in: his friend.

Both men walked me to my car. I was embarrassed at the idea of this stranger knowing what I was up to and the conversation the two might have in my absence. But I was also a little disappointed that my make out session had ended abruptly. Still I smiled and waved politely as I drove off.

A few days later I got a call from an unknown number. It was the tall, well built and handsome guy from the night before. He got my number from ‘our’ friend because it was obvious to him that I liked him. He then continued with the weirdest conversation I have perhaps ever had with someone. He insisted that we should be friends and that I verbally accept his friend request. It was strange but I didn’t want to be too impolite so I responded with

“Friendships are something that develop over time but you seem like a nice guy so we will see…”

I guess it was enough for him because he continued that if we were to be friends, I would have to promise never to call him after 10pm.

His reason?

He is in fact a married man and his wifegets very jealous of his female friends and

always checks his phone when he is home.

At this point, it became obvious that something was wrong with this guy. But before I could get off the phone…

he got even weirder.

He wanted to give me fair warning that he “always sleeps with his female friends”

As you can imagine, I was pretty taken back. In hindsight I should have just hung up the phone but instead I tried to make it clear to him that I had no intentions of sleeping with him. He chuckled because he heard what I was saying but still wanted to let me know what ‘tends’to happen.

The audacity!

But also, I couldn’t help but me astonished. I mean I have heard of ‘game’ and thought I had seen every play in the book but THIS one, I didn’t even see coming.

Needless to say, I hung up the phone.

But my question is, do women actually fall for that?

I can only assume it would not be in his playbook if it had not garnered him some level of success…

So, what’s this award all about?You can call it Favorite Blog Award, as “Liebster” is a German word for beloved, or dearest. However, there is neither competition nor a jury. It is like a chain letter, or in this case, a “chain tag”, meant to help new, but talented bloggers with less than 200 followers to be discovered by the rest of the world.

To accept this award, all you have to do is:

1. Link back and recognize the blogger who nominated you (this would be me :))2. Answer ten questions given to you by the blogger who nominated you (see the questions below).3. Nominate 3-5 other bloggers with less than 200 followers for the award.4. Create ten questions for your nominees to answer.5. Notify your nominees the way you were notified.

Now its my turn to let you know about my favorite blogs that totally deserve a “Liebster” award:

Not only does she blogs but she is also a YouTube vlogger. To be honest, I’m a little bit (read as a lot) shy at the idea of posting on her blog…I am THAT star struck! She does everything, from poetry to serious commentary about Jamaica and politics to hilarious reviews of Scandal. You have to check her out!

A beautiful blog written by a truly talented artist. She is passionate about a wide variety of topics and will make you passionate about it too. She recently visited Jordan and took amazing photos and her posts about feminism *sigh*…mind blowing!

Turn down the lights, turn down the bedTurn down these voices inside my head
Lay down with me, tell me no lies
Just hold me close, don’t patronize – don’t patronize me

Cause I can’t make you love me if you don’tYou can’t make your heart feel something it won’t
Here in the dark, in these final hours
I will lay down my heart and I’ll feel the power
But you won’t, no you won’t
‘Cause I can’t make you love me, if you don’t

I’ll close my eyes, then I won’t see The love you don’t feel when you’re holding me
Morning will come and I’ll do what’s right
Just give me till then to give up this fight
And I will give up this fight

Cause I can’t make you love me if you don’t
You can’t make your heart feel something it won’tHere in the dark, in these lonely hours
I will lay down my heart and I’ll feel the power
But you won’t, no you won’t
‘Cause I can’t make you love me, if you don’t